


Fun and Games

by SeventhStrife



Series: AAC: 2017 [7]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Pranks and Practical Jokes, like very mild, some language I guess, srsly it's just fluff, two dumb guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 06:53:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14014626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeventhStrife/pseuds/SeventhStrife
Summary: Frozen Bubbles AUIn an attempt to make washing the dishes of their holiday dishes slightly less mind-numbing, Characters A & B play around and wind up soaking themselves in water…only to lock themselves outside due to an unfortunate series of events.Chaotic attempts at re-entry so they can once again feel their toes ensues.None of this would have even happened if Sephiroth had just let himsleep.





	Fun and Games

**Author's Note:**

> LOL this is so late. I try so hard every year to complete AAC, but work ensures I never quite make it. I wrote a few entries past the due date and figured I might as well post them.

Cloud and Sephiroth stood at the entrance of their kitchen, staring at the mountain of dishes overflowing from the sink.

Cloud hazarded a glance over. "...We _could_ leave them for tomorrow."

"...No," Sephiroth disagreed reluctantly, frowning. "We shouldn't. We'll just put it off again."

"So?"

"So. I prefer not to live in a pigsty."

"Maybe I do."

"Cloud."

Cloud groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's _late,_ Sephiroth. And I'm tired. Why can't you do it?"

Sephiroth arched a brow. "You'd really let me clean this mess by myself while you slept?"

"Yep," Cloud said immediately, popping the 'p'. 

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed. "Why don't _you_ clean them?"

Cloud glared back. "Because I don't _want_ to. And if I have to be miserable, so do you."

The staring contest stretched, but they were both competitive and never shirked from a challenge.

"Rock, paper, scissors?"

"You're on."

They decided on best out of three, but had to go up to five when they kept choosing the same move. It progressed to seven, then nine, until they were too tired to keep it up and decided to tackle them together after all.

Cloud was a little bitter as he rinsed and dried. He could be _sleeping_ right now if Sephiroth hadn't chosen rock right after they'd _agreed_ to both move on to something else. Of course, Cloud was just as bad, picking rock after they said they wouldn't...but _still._ It was the principle of the matter.

The party had been worth it, though. Although, _party_ may have been generous. Neither of them was exactly flush with friends, but between the two of them, there'd been about nine people, as well as a few plus ones. They hardly ever got together, their work schedules conflicting so drastically, so having everyone in the same room had brought with it a welcome burst of nostalgia.

At least until it was time to clean up afterward.

Cloud slotted another plate into the dry rack and resolved to lose a few friends. Reno, for example—who always made some crack about Cloud's height—could go for sure...

Cloud startled, eyes flying open when he felt something warm and wet hit his face. Blinking, he wiped his cheek with his shoulder, craning his neck to see the moisture soaking a few spots of fabric.

"What the...?" Cloud looked at Sephiroth, calmly scrubbing a pot. "Did you splash me?"

"Oh. Perhaps. I suppose I wasn't paying attention."

"All right..." Cloud let it go. After all, he hadn't even realized he'd been dozing, and he'd probably leaned too close.

A few minutes passed with only the sound of clattering of dishes and the spray of water. Cloud was much more aware of his drooping eyes, his sluggish wipes, but was powerless to resist. Sleep...called...

Several warm drops of water splashed across his face, making him sputter where it hit his closed eyes and nose.

Incredulous, Cloud turned to face Sephiroth. Who was watching him with an unabashed smirk, hand still up and dripping bubbles, hovering in the same spot from where he'd flicked water at him.

"Oops," he said insincerely. "I must not have been paying attention again."

Cloud's mouth dropped open, but a dark smile was twitching onto his lips.

"You are _so._ Dead."

Sephiroth looked unimpressed. "You only have yourself to blame. While falling asleep at the sink is a good way to avoid doing your fair share, it's still chea—"

He didn't get to finish because Cloud loved nothing more than cutting Sephiroth off in the middle of a lecture. He snatched the small spray hose out of its rest and aimed. Sephiroth's eyes went wide and he leaned back in trepidation. His green eyes were pinned on Cloud, shining with warning.

"Don't you _dare_ —"

Cloud held down the trigger with relish, laughing brightly and honestly when Sephiroth flinched with a small gasp, dropping his sponge and raising his arms to shield himself.

"Cloud! Cloud—Stop!"

Cloud couldn't hear him, too busy riding the power trip.

"Oops!" He mocked with dark satisfaction. "Sorry! I'm not paying attention!"

Sephiroth blocked the spray with his open palms, hair plastered to his face, and had just enough room to glare down at Cloud. In that split-second, Cloud could see nothing but murderous intent and had a moment of clarity.

_I'm fucked._

As much fun as it was holding the hose, it wasn't a long-term solution. Sephiroth took a step forward, the move rife with intent, and Cloud dropped the hose and ran, laughing all the while.

"Cloud!"

Cloud's heart tripped in his chest. "Aw, shit." He couldn't stop smiling.

Sephiroth chased him throughout their home and showed no sign of stopping. Once, he got close, and Cloud had felt his fingertips brushing the back of his shirt. He'd vaulted over the table to get distance, and had looked over his shoulder.

The look on Sephiroth's face...Cloud shivered. He wasn't sure if he was scared or turned on—maybe a healthy dose of both, but if being silly and chasing his boyfriend around like a child got him to look like _that_ , then Cloud's eventual death was well worth it. He was too serious, anyway.

That didn't mean he had to make it easy for him, though.

Cloud darted to the living room and regretted it instantly. With Sephiroth hot on his heels, blocking the only exit, he'd effectively trapped himself. He ran to the side, twisting to press against the front door, heart racing.

Sephiroth was panting slightly, slick hair pushed back and away from his face. When he saw Cloud's predicament, a terribly pleased smile crept onto his lips. He slowed his advance, savoring Cloud's unease.

"Okay, look," Cloud started, holding out a calming hand. "I'm sorry, all right? Let's just take a deep breath and—"

"You. Are going. To. Pay."

Cloud's words dried up in his throat. Early into their relationship, Sephiroth had learned Cloud was ticklish. When Cloud had posted an embarrassing picture of him on MoogleBook, he'd held him down and mercilessly tickled him within an inch of his life.

The moment flashed like a sudden stroke of PTSD. He wasn't thinking clearly, suddenly overcome with dread, and could only calculate the quickest, most efficient way to get distance.

Cloud unlocked the front door and _ran._

The biting wind met him instantly and the chill of the porch seeped through his socks. He had only one moment to marvel at his stupidity, running out in snowy weather without _shoes_ at the very least, before a heavy, firm weight tackled him from behind.

With a yell, the two of them careened off the porch and straight into the snow. Cloud shrieked, snow turning his skin numb with a frigid shock. Sephiroth couldn't have been faring better, but he was on top and was spared a back drenched in ice. His knees sank into the snow, pinning Cloud between his legs.

Mouth in a firm line, he scooped up a handful of snow, quickly packed a decent snowball, and then crushed it against Cloud's face.

"No! Sephi—Sephiroth stop!" It was so cold, but Cloud was smiling, laughing, batting ineffectually at the hand that was trying to smother him.

"You are the most _ridiculous_ person I've ever known," Sephiroth stated, frustration and amusement bleeding into his tone. He finally pulled his hand back, grimacing as he shook off the ice and water, pale hands now a bright, painful red. "I hope you've learned your lesson."

Cloud, panting, shook his head and managed to knock off most of the ice. He met Sephiroth's look impudently, trying to hide how he was already beginning to shiver.

"Nope. Not even a little bit."

Sephiroth took that as the challenge it was, eyes narrowing, and his lips parted.

A faint, resounding click stopped him in his tracks, and for a single shared moment of dread and disbelief, they simply stared at one another.

Sephiroth twisted while Cloud rose up on his arms. Their front door was the kind that shut on its own. Not automatically or mechanically, but just because it was a bit old and if you left it open, it would slowly but surely close. The only thing automatic about it were the locks, which engaged every time it shut.

And it had closed now.

Sephiroth lurched up, gait slightly unsteady in the snow, and Cloud followed belatedly, shivering fiercely and suddenly aware of every inch of his body that was wet, and cold, and feeling the breeze.

He met Sephiroth at the door, silent as Sephiroth tried the door once, twice, and another time more forcefully. He threw his shoulder against it but it wasn't a cheap piece of imitation wood like Cloud's old apartment. It was solid and completely unyielding.

Sephiroth knocked his head against the door, eyes closed in supplication, and Cloud just looked at it, lips a thin line.

"This is your fault."

Sephiroth's lips twisted. "I apologize that I made you spray me with a hose."

Cloud glared at him, refusing to take the blame. "I want a divorce."

Sephiroth glanced at him from the corner of his eye, amused. "We can't get a divorce, Cloud. We're not married."

Grimly, Cloud said, "I'll find a way."

It was certainly an adventure trying to break into their home, but not the good kind. More like the bittersweet kind, because the adventurers learn that their house is pretty damn impenetrable, which is good from a safety standpoint, but really blows from a 'locked out' standpoint. A neighbor nearly called the cops on them until he recognized Sephiroth's distinctive hair.

The neighbor, Cid, was a godsend. He lent them his carjack, cigarette nearly falling out of his mouth as he muttered, "Damn idiots, getting locked out of their own damn house...". The carjack pried their garage open just enough for Cloud to crawl underneath and, miracle of miracles, the garage door leading inside it unlocked.

After expressing profuse gratitude to Cid, the two of them stripped and showered, shivering beneath the hot spraylike two pathetic, abandoned puppies. It certainly wasn't how either of them planned to spend the evening, but when Cloud glanced up at Sephiroth through the steam, his green eyes flicked to his and he smiled slightly, in a lost, incredulous sort of way.

And then Cloud was laughing, at them, the situation, the sorry picture they made now and the spectacle they must have been before.

Soon, Sephiroth joined him, his a quieter, deeper rumble, and his arms pulled Cloud against him, holding him close.

When they calmed down, Sephiroth asked, "Are you still considering that divorce?"

Cloud hums in thought, the soothing spray of hot water at his back and his cheek resting against a warm chest.

"I guess that depends."

"On what?"

"On who still has to finish those dishes."

 

 


End file.
